Environmental factors interact with genetics to form personality. The biological approach is just one of many that explains why we are the way we are. Some psychologists, such as Carl Jung, Hans Eysenck, and B.F. Skinner developed theories emphasizing the genetic influences on personality. Charles Darwin was the first who introduced that evolution mixed with genetics play a role in the behavior of humans. By looking at our personality with a biological approach, psychologists understand exactly how and why the brain influences the way people act, feel, and think and new treatments are made from studying this approach to psychology. Mental illnesses are a big part of psychology and change our personality because of the differences in the brains …show more content…
This theory proves the similarity in bone structure, nervous system, and muscular makeup in humans and primates. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution ties in with the biological approach by explaining our physical makeup and how it has evolved throughout the years. Darwin’s theory argues that all living species are at their current biological form because of random inheritable changes. These changes are most likely to have been passed on to the next generation, which is called natural selection. Tanner (2008) states that “Psychologists are interested in what human traits make some people more successful than others. This is based largely on Darwin’s idea of natural selection where the strongest, adaptive, or creative species survive and others do not.” Furthermore, natural selection is a strong factor in deciding the biological aspects of personality. Sociobiology is an extremely important part of evolutionary study. Friedman & Schustack (2010) state that “Sociobiology is the study of the influence of evolutionary biology on an organism’s responses regarding social matters” (p. 139). Sociobiology includes a rewarding process in which an infant will do certain things to impress his or her mother and the mother will in turn reward the infant. The Cinderella Effect, where Cinderella was treated poorly by her stepmother, results from natural selection. This means that parents …show more content…
Sir Francis Galton, Darwin’s cousin, was extremely influenced by Darwin’s studies. He began the eugenics movement and stated that families should have many children because it will improve human blood lines after time. Galton turned out to be an extreme racist by favoring the upper-class Englishmen and their superiority. He was also more interested in his own superiority, along with the superiority of his family (Friedman & Schustack 2010). Galton’s goal was to prove the genetic influences on personality, but unfortunately racism and sexism are factors in his findings. Along with Galton’s studies, twin research also has a lot to prove when it comes to genetic influences on personality. The Minnesota Twin Study studies two identical twins, Jack and Oskar, who were separated during infancy but then brought back together again as adults. Jack was raised outside of Europe by a Jewish family and Oskar was raised in Germany by his Catholic grandmother. The conclusion of the study was that both Jack and Oskar have extremely similar traits and habits. Friedman & Schustack (2010) stated “They are both absentminded, like spicy foods, and most important for our purposes, have a domineering, angry sort of temperament”. The similarities between these twins were due to their genes and had nothing to do with their environment because they both were raised in a different place with different
In psychology, the nature versus nurture argument is a long-debated topic. With each new discovery, there are two famous questions, "Did genes make this happen or did one's environment cause it?" Torgersen (2009) confronts this battle by gathering data of the effects of the environment on the development of personality disorders, explaining that – due to research in Norway and other regions – the progression and endowment of personality disorders may actually boil down to genetic predisposition rather than environmental factors. In other words, it is suggested
"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life," usually shortened to "the Origin of Species," is the full title of Charles Darwin's book, first published in 1859, in which Darwin formalized what we know today as the Theory of Evolution. Although Darwin is the most famous exponent of this theory, he was by no means the first person to suspect the workings of evolution. In fact, Charles owed a considerable debt to his grandfather Erasmus, a leading scientist and intellectual, who published a paper in 1794, calledZoonomia, or, The Laws of Organic Life. This set down many of the ideas that his grandson elaborated on 70 years later.
Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwin’s ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwin’s book remains one of the most influential ever written.
Today, realising that genes and environment cooperate and interact synergistically, traditional dichotomy of nature vs. nurture is commonly seen as a false dichotomy. Especially operant conditioning, i.e. the learning of the consequences of one's own behavior can lead to positive feedback loops between genetic predispositions and behavioral consequences that render the question as to cause and effect nonsensical. Positive feedback has the inherent tendency to exponentially amplify any initial small differences. For example, an at birth negligible difference between two brothers in a gene affecting IQ to a small percentage, may lead to one discovering a book the will spark his interest in reading, while the other never gets to see that book. One becomes an avid reader who loves intellectual challenges while the other never finds a real interest in books, but hangs out with his friends more often. Eventually, the reading brother may end up with highly different IQ scores in standardized tests, simply because the book loving brother has had more opportunities to train his brain. Had both brother received identical environmental input, their IQ scores would hardly differ.
Evolutionary theory is developed from Darwin’s argument that “suggests that a process of natural selection leads to the survival of the fittest and the development of traits that enable a species to adept to its environment. “ Many have taken this a step further by saying that our genetic inheritance determines not only our physical traits but also certain personality traits and social behaviors. There is such a controversy over significant behaviors that unfold because many believe that we are already pre-programmed human species. It has also been argued that evolution is reflected in functioning and structure of the nervous system and that is has evolutionary factors that have a significant influence on everyday behavior. With what is being said means that if we follow the evolutionary theory, then it would be said that we are already pre-programmed from before birth to follow certain protocols in life. Whether it is from finding a mate or by getting a job. It also believed that this theory gives use cues from our own system to follow, providing us with certain aspects of life from our ancestors. By believing in this theory we can determine that the importance of heredity when influencing human behavior. Behavioral geneticists and evolutionary psychologists have both agreed that not only do genetic factors provide specific behaviors or traits but it also shows the limitations on the emergence of such traits or behaviors. What this means is that our genetics will determine how tall we will be to how ...
James Hutton was born June 3rd, 1726, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a Scottish farmer and a naturalist, later in life he was known as the father of modern geology.
Many conducted research by looking into identical twins and their personality types. Even when the twins were separated, they expressed some of the same behaviors and traits as their twin which concluded that some traits are inheritable. This thought can go deeper into the brain through a domain called personality neuroscience where people have discovered the dopamine receptor gene (Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, pg. 479, 2015). This gene influences the amount of serotonin in the brain and can cause greater anxiety levels in these people. The founding of this gene solidifies the fact that biology and personality are indeed
Within a few decades, geneticists determined that quantitative characters are influenced by multiple genetic loci and that the alleles at each locus follow Mendelian laws of inheritance.
The biological approach emphasizes physical and biological bases of behaviour. It looks at how brain functions influence different behaviours and personality. The study of nervous system has played a major role in the development of biological approach to psychology. On the other hand, the psychoanalytic approach explains personality, motivation and psychological disorders by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, unconscious motives and conflicts. This essay attempts to explain biological and psychoanalytic approaches to psychology with focus on their core assumptions, key features, similarities and differences.
Evolutionary Psychology has been controversial since its rise in the 1990s, with critics and proponents debating its merits as a science. While critics (e.g. David Buller, Elizabeth Lloyd) have extensively criticized the fundamentals of Evolutionary Psychology, few philosophers or scientists have challenged them. Given the growing influence of the evolutionary behavioral sciences within mainstream science like Psychology and Anthropology, it is important analyze the critiques and see if the arguments against Evolutionary Psychology have merit. This paper will focus on two of the most often cited critiques of Evolutionary Psychology: the critique of the concept of the modular model of the mind and the critique of the two “signature achievements” in Evolutionary Psychology, Martin Daly and Margot Wilson’s Cinderella Effect and David Buss’s studies of male-female differences in jealousy. I will describe and respond these critiques of Evolutionary Psychology, making the case that these critiques are not valid and have little merit on scientific basis of Evolutionary Psychology.
Charles Darwin has had the greatest influence on the world by proving the evolution of living things. Charles Darwin had first noticed the similarities of plants and animals when he took a five-year cruise on the H.M.S. Beagle, which was available to him through a friend from school. During the cruise Charles Darwin started becoming interested with the similarities between the plants and animals that were similar on different islands with similar climates, so he decided to study them more closely.
Freud believed that we are dominated by biological needs, especially sexual, that must be controlled if we are to become civilized human beings. In his view, our perpetual struggle to tame these impulses leads to the emotional conflicts that shape our personality. According to his Psychoanalytic Theory, personality is shaped by an ongoing conflict between peoples primary drives, particularly sex and aggression and the social pressures of civilized society. Also early childhood experience plays a major role in molding personality.
The Biological approach to personality places emphasis on the genetic influences related to the development of an individual’s personality. Some may believe that children and their parents can have very similar personalities, for example a young boy having his father’s anger (Stelmack, 1990). Though this approach has often been questioned by psychologists, it is not disregarded all together. Some believe that genetics do have a role in an individual’s personality development; however environments, as well as personal experiences all work in forming personality.
... have come to the conclusion that genetics is very important for the development of personality but even they have to determine how these genes are investigated for the purpose of determining a particular personality. “What scientists have found is that there does not appear to be a single gene for a particular trait, but that genes show their effects by working together in complex combinations. For example, there is no single gene for dancing or music. Whether a child will be musically inclined will be determined by the way that child's genes interact with one another. Some parents would like to believe that by creating an environment rich in music while the child is young will develop the child's talent towards music. However, despite assumptions like this, there is no evidence that shows long term effects of growing up in a particular environment” (Pinker, 2003).
Like physiology, anatomy and biology, evolutionary psychology examines human behaviour from a Darwinian perspective. That is, like physical traits, psychological ...